New Somerset county champion defies the odds after accident left her in coma for five weeks and doctors said she would never play golf again
Aimee Sawyer claimed her first Somerset Ladies County Championship this month but for the Mendip captain, the victory meant so much more than most of us will ever be able to imagine.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
Just under three years ago she was fighting for her life after a freak, fire-related accident left her in a coma for five weeks.
She received 58.5% body burns with most of the damage was done to her limbs. Her right arm needed to be fully grafted while calicification of her elbow on her left arm means she is 31% off straightening it.
Doctors told her she would never play golf again but the 29-year-old has used the sport to help her rehabilitation, which has included numerous operations, and motivate herself to defy the odds. Her right hand has already been reconstructed twice and it will shortly be operated on again.
She played her first round in June 2021 – The Mendip Club Championship – and just a few weeks after being rushed back into hospital with pneumonia in April last year, Aimee played the County Championship with 85% lung capacity and finished eighth.
A big factor in her rehabilitation has been the help she has received from Mendip head pro Stuart Disney. Much of that has been work to modify her swing, taking account of the resulting physical restrictions.
Aimee, who only started playing at 16, has lost “a couple of clubs” in distance but that did not stop her at her home course in the county championship. She won by one shot from Welsh international Harriet Lockley, birdieing three of the last seven holes to get the job done.
“Having this trophy signifies the triumph of my journey so far,” said the new champion, who before the accident had come runner-up twice to six-time county champion Hannah Woodley.
“It has been overwhelming for me and even now winning this trophy still hasn’t sunk in yet. Since last September I have been using the fact the county championship was at Mendip to help with my rehabilitation. And I told a lot people I was going to win it.
“It has given me something to focus on and have the courage and drive to be who I want to be and never let go of my dreams. I didn’t want the accident to take all that away from me. I just refused to let it happen.
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“It has been extremely tough but well worth it. I didn’t like being beaten down. I don’t like being at the bottom. I want to be a winner and I want to be a champion.”
Together with coach and “mentor” Disney, her swing has been reconstructed and she admits her accuracy has improved.
Aimee added: “For a long time after my accident I tried to play golf how I used to and I just played rubbish.
“Now I work with my injuries, rather than against them and that’s ok. I have learned to accept all that, rather than getting frustrated and sad with myself.
“But Stuart has been so important to me as a mentor and a friend and he has been there for me and my family since the accident.
“It’s been so good to have him on my side and he has also coached people with disabilities before.”
She has also received a lot of help from golfing friends like Hannah Woodley, who said: “I can just say I’ve never seen anyone like it who has showed such amazing courage and is an inspiration to all.”
Aimee has weakened her grip but is hopeful further planned operations will help her get back more towards her pre-accident swing while she continues to do her strength and conditioning training.
However it was all working pretty well at The Mendip as she led from the front, closing on level par after rounds of 73 and 77. Dad Jon caddied for her across both rounds and there was a buggy on standby had she not been able to walk the full 36.
It wasn’t looking good in the afternoon though. She was five over par after 11 holes but holing out from 20 feet for a birdie on 12 got things going.
And then an unlikely par on 14 really kick-started her excellent finish.
“My drive landed in think rough at 14 and I had 208 yards in with the ball well above my feet.
“With my limitations I really struggle with this kind of shot, especially because I knew I had to rip it.
“I used my hybrid from a similar spot in the morning and left it short so knew I had to hit it really hard and I did. I was so happy it left me with tingles in my face but that’s what golf can do for you.”
Her brilliant approach shot finished 20 feet short and she made her par before birdieing the next two (pars fives). On 16 she executed a beautiful pitch to three feet having hit “the worst drive of the day.”
There would be another birdie opportunity on 18 but she just missed from 12 feet.
Then there was a short wait – she was playing in the penultimate group – to see how the final trio had fared. With players being sent out in handicap order – and Lockley and her clubmate Jess Haines having been only two shots back at halfway – there was a strong possibility she could have been overhauled.
But Haines never recovered from a poor start and finished fifth overall while Lockley, who this year has already won the Comboy Scratch and Formby Leveret, had a wobble in the middle of her back nine and also bogeyed 17th to close with a one-over-par 76.